


just trust me

by kennysspace



Series: almost paradise - part two [4]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:20:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21809449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kennysspace/pseuds/kennysspace
Summary: almost paradise: part two - chapter four of fifteenyou want to get your mind off of steve. your brother shows you something that almost makes you forget about him.
Relationships: Steve Harrington/Henderson Reader, Steve Harrington/Reader, Steve Harrington/You
Series: almost paradise - part two [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1571503
Kudos: 31





	just trust me

this is also being updated to my tumblr. you can find it [here](https://yelennabelova.tumblr.com)

* * *

Being away from Steve reminds you a bit too much of what it was like last time - the last time your best friend left you because of someone else. And even though it hurt then, it’s like all the symptoms have been turned up to eleven.

You didn’t think it would ever have come to this; that Nancy and Steve’s breakup would have you caught right in the middle, let alone as a recipient of the consequences.

After Nancy stopped spending time with you, you noticed the glares you received in the halls by your fellow students; rumors spread like wildfire around here. They vanished after a few weeks and you were able to move on with your classes - get good grades and move on.

The looks returned when Steve started hanging around your locker more and more after the events of last year. It never bothered you what your classmates thought of your friendship, as Steve was always there to help pull you back up when something particularly nasty got said.

“You know what? Screw ‘em, it doesn’t matter anyways,” He would say, even though you know that it got to him too. He always made sure to put on a brave face when you were around.

But now?

It feels like all of them know everything about how it went down that night at Tina’s, and you don’t know if you’re just being paranoid or if your mind is remembering what happened those years ago.

You could really use a pick me up from the kids right about now. Just the thought of their stupid jokes and unyielding honesty start to crack the hardened expression on your face. But it’s still not enough - your heart still aches without Steve by your side.

When the final bell rings, you couldn’t be more thrilled. It’s a gorgeous fall Friday, and you realize that you desperately are in need of something to get your mind away from  _ him _ . You were barely able to push through Nancy’s rejection, and you realize you’re going to need to work even harder to get over Steve’s.

You tug on your jacket after pulling it from your locker, heavy eyelids cast downwards as you prepare to leave for the day; your head is still swimming with flashes from the party. You can’t stop thinking about how stupid you were to blow up on Nancy, as your words have left nothing but a haze of regret.

Suddenly, someone yanks on the door to the locker, slamming it into the others and you jump at the noise. You already know who’s the culprit before you get a chance to look up; you would recognize that scent of cologne and cigarettes anywhere.

“Yes, Billy?” You grumble, grabbing a textbook from your bag and placing it on the shelf; the boy’s blue eyes watch your actions intently.

He smirks slightly once you finally turn to look at him with a hand placed on your hip, “Ah, she speaks.”

You scoff at Billy’s comment and the arrogance he displayed, “Oh please. I talked everyone’s ears off in Soc yesterday. Who sets a ten minute minimum for a project anyways?”

He clears his throat as he lets go of the door, “Speaking of, I thought your presentation was impressive. It really, uh, caught my eye.”

You stagger back slightly at the compliment, feeling the heat rise up to your cheeks before as you come to terms with what he just said. Nobody ever pays attention to your projects in class - or so you thought.

“Um, thank you?” You say, voice softening as you rub the back of your neck with your hand, “I didn’t think anyone actually  _ listened  _ to my presentations.”

Billy shrugs, folding his arms over his chest, “Well, then I guess I’m your biggest fan.”

Laughing in disbelief, your gaze pans over the crowd of students walking by. Their wandering eyes land on Billy Hargrove exchanging pleasantries with  _ you _ ; a few packs of girls glare as they pass.

“You should tutor me some time, and maybe I can teach you a thing or two. You know, in exchange,” He says casually, and a breath gets caught in the back of your throat at what he’s implying. You know damn well what types of things he’s good at.

“There’s a whole tutoring club in the library,” You mention as a way to try and deter him, “You should be asking them, not me. I’m no teacher, Billy.”

You lean down to grab a notebook as you begin to feel overwhelmed by his interest in you - he practically studies your every action. It makes you nervous, and you can’t tell if it’s in a good way, or a bad one.

“Aw, well that’s a shame. I heard that you bumped up Harrington’s grades quite a bit.”

At the mention of Steve, your actions stall for just a brief moment; it doesn’t go unnoticed.

“That was different. Steve was my friend. I wanted what was best for him.”

Billy smiles. He heard just what he wanted.

He interprets those words as confirmation of your feelings for Steve, and including the events in the gym and his added absence, Billy makes a correct assumption - Steve’s no longer in the picture.

“You know, I didn’t come over here to ask you to tutor me,” Billy begins again, his voice quiets as he observes your reaction. Your brow raises at what he implies and curiosity starts to eat away at you.

“I was wondering…” Billy continues as he adjusts the collar on his denim jacket, “if you’d be interested in going out sometime. This weekend, if you’re free?”

You head snaps back up to meet his gaze with a confused expression written all over your face. The notebook nearly slips from your grasp as you straighten, tone laced with sarcasm as you ponder the authenticity of his question, “ _ Really _ ?”

Billy just shrugs as he chews on the inside of his lip, “Yeah, we could maybe grab a bite to eat, take a long drive, and you know-” He places an arm against the wall, leaning into you slightly as he pauses for effect.

“We can see where the night takes us.”

His grin grows wider as your brow furrows in thought at his proposition. You’re not stupid - you’ve heard the rumors swirling about him. Billy’s only been in town for a week and he’s already got at least four different girls under his belt, and he only seems to relish in the spotlight.

Saying yes to a date with the new and practically self-proclaimed King of Hawkins wasn’t going to go down lightly, especially after you’re able to assume how the night’s going to end. It makes your shiver.

But then you think about Steve. You think about Nancy.

It makes you clench your jaw in anger - your chest aches at the thought of him reverting back to his old ways with the mere idea of you loving him as more than friends. The frustration inside your head threatens to overtake you yet again, but you can only think one thing.

You need to get over him.

Those six words get repeated over and over inside your skull, and they’re the only reason why you say, “Okay.”

Billy grabs the pen from the shelf inside your locker and pulls the notebook from your grasp, flipping to a random page and scrawling his digits onto the top.

“How’s Sunday night sound? Shall we say around 8?” He asks and he lowers his voice a touch, folding down the corner before handing it back, “I’ll come pick you up, yeah?”

“O-Okay, sounds good,” You stutter out, the gravity of your decision hitting you as he takes a step back, his eyes intently staring into yours, “Wear somethin’ cute.”

You can only muster a nod underneath your cocktail of emotions - excited at the idea of finally, after a year of thankless devotion, taking a step to move on from Steve. You’re absolutely terrified that you’ve chosen to do so with Billy Hargrove.

Billy winks as he turns, but not before he says over his shoulder, “Catch you later, sweetheart.”

You’re finally able to breathe normally as soon as he’s disappeared into the crowd; you close your eyes for a moment, gripping the spiral-bound paper harder in your arms.

“Shit.”

* * *

You’ve barely been able to mount your bike before your brother comes riding down through the parking lot, and he looks rather relieved to spot you.

“Oh, thank god. I’ve been looking all over for you!” Dustin waves for you to follow him with his hand gesturing violently as he gets closer - he doesn’t look like he’s going to stop.

“Where the hell have you been? You’ve been MIA for like two days!”

You go to open your mouth to defend yourself as you match his speed, but Dustin interrupts before you can answer him, “It doesn’t matter, we’ve got a problem.”

Your face scrunches, “Exactly what  _ kind  _ of problem?”

You scoff as he barrels through a stop sign, clearly in a rush to get back home. After making the turn onto your street, your brother begins pedaling faster as he answers, “I found a pollywog in our trash the other night, and I  _ thought _ he was a new species. It turns out that he might be from the Upside Down.”

You nearly lose your balance at his words, the front tire moves from side to side as it squeaks against the pavement, “W-What? You mean-”

“Yes, from the same place the Demogorgon came from, the same place where Will went missing. I know it sounds crazy, but that might be an explanation of where he came from.”

“Dustin, it sounds like the only explanation!” You say as you throw your bike into the grass. You don’t particularly care about anything other than the idea that last year’s events might be repeating themselves, “What else could it be?”

“I don’t need one of your lectures right now, okay?” Dustin retorts back as he grabs the handle to the front door, “I just need your help.”

After he’s finished pleading, you set your hands on your hips and flash him a knowing look, as if you  _ weren’t _ going to help him.

You tilt your chin towards the entrance, “Alright, fine.”

The both of you try to pass quickly through the house, only managing to get to the kitchen before your mother stops you with concerned look in her eyes and a bag of cat food in her hand.

“Kids, have you seen Mews today? I don’t know where they went off to,” She clutches the bag a bit tighter as Dustin pushes your shoulder, urging you to move further down the hall.

“Nope, haven’t seen ‘em, Mom, sorry!” Dustin’s odd behavior and wavering tone catches her attention and her brow furrows more, “Everything okay, baby?”

“Yep! Everything’s fine!” You chime in, voice cracking a touch as you try and come up with an excuse. It falters.

“Just, um - I got-”

“New comics!” Dustin shouts as he interrupts suddenly, pushing your shoulder harder, “She’s gotta show me her new comics, yep!”

As soon as you pass through into his room, Dustin shuts the door and immediately locks it behind him; he coughs as he does to cover the noise and not draw any more suspicion from your mother.

“New comics?” You ask as you take off your backpacks, “That’s all you could come up with?”

“At least I  _ had _ an excuse,” Dustin answers quickly. He motions over to the terrarium by the far wall, and grabs the bed sheet that covers the glass, “Alright, Dart. Y/N’s here, we gotta talk to you, bud-”

His sentence stops abruptly as he pulls it away to reveal that it’s empty. The glass has been shattered, with the sharp and cracked edges coated in a thick, nearly opaque slime. And in the center, a darker version lays in a small pile. Dustin gulps at the sight.

“So, where’d he go?” You ask as you both lean in to take a closer look, and you carefully drag your finger through the substance on the glass - you react in disgust at its consistency.

Dustin moves to inspect the pile, and he groans after discovering that it’s not slime at all - it’s shed skin.

He turns his head to you, lifting it up higher for you to see, before exchanging a frightened glance, “He molted.”

“Why would he need to do that?” You mutter and a shriek comes from the corner, startling both of you and causing you to grip to the other. The noise sends a cold rush up the back of your spine, and you feel the hairs on your neck stand up before hesitantly looking to your brother. He matches your uncertainty with his own.

Dustin’s hand quickly moves from the position on your forearm to point out a pool of blood that stained the striped carpet and your eyes follow where the trail leads up and over the armchair, before it disappears from your view.

You force a breath through your nose as you begin to move forward, Dustin still clinging to you but following closely by your side. Noises from behind the chair start to register in your ears and it scares you to not know exactly what you’re preparing to face.

It isn’t at all what you expect.

There lies the body of your mother’s dead cat, with its stomach being feasted upon by a four legged creature - one that you assume to be Dart.

“ _ Holy shit _ -”

The words get knocked out of you at the sight, and neither one of you can pull your eyes away. It’s like a car crash; it’s too horrible to see, but you can’t stop yourself from wanting to look.

Dart turns to you, distracted from his meal and he lets out another screech, with his flower-like mouth opening to reveal rows upon rows of sharp teeth.

Your hand covers your mouth in shock as memories of the Demogorgon flash through your mind. You begin to remember how it crawled its way between dimensions to attack you in the Byers’ home last November.

The idea of having to endure all of that again makes your stomach queasy, and even more so when it hits you; your brother has been fostering a baby Demogorgon inside your house and you weren’t even aware.

Dustin pulls you back, both sets of shoes stuttering against the floor in your respective states of horror and surprise, “Oh no, this is bad.”

“ _ You think _ ?” You push away from him as your voice raises a touch, earning a ripe shush from him. “Keep your voice down!”

“There’s a goddamn Demogorgon in your bedroom, Dustin!” You retort, quieting your voice as you whisper in anger at him, “And it ate our cat!”

“I didn’t think  _ that _ was gonna happen!”

“What did you think was gonna happen? You two were going to be best friends forever?”

“That’s not the problem right now! We’re going to have to come up with a plan to deal with him!” Dustin says as he grabs your biceps in a failed attempt to steady you, “But it’ll have to wait until tomorrow, when we can get Mom out of the house.”

You groan at the idea of sleeping in your room with that  _ thing  _ just a few layers of drywall away, and your hands come up to cover your face, “Dustin, this is absolutely insane. I can’t believe you!”

“I know, just trust me,” He reiterates again, quickly glancing back over to where Dart resides, “But we can handle it.”

You huff from behind your palms, hot breath bouncing back into your face before you cross your arms over your chest. A glare gets sent your brother’s way, “I’m still gonna call Hopper.”


End file.
